The truth about tuberculosis: an introduction and overview
Tuberculosis, TB, is thought by a lot of people in the UK as a disease of the past. A disease people got years ago, when they had to go to sanitoriums because they had the ‘wasting disease’ or ‘consumption’. People don’t get TB anymore…
Nothing could be further than the truth. Tuberculosis is one of the biggest health challenges facing the world in the 21st century.
The problem of tuberculosis is particularly bad in Africa and Asia, and in countries in the developing world generally, where this disease kills millions. Millions more have latent tuberculosis, which means they could develop active disease at any time
Facts and figures to shock
Here are a few facts and figures about tuberculosis that should be shocking:
In 2006, 1.7 million people died of TB, worldwide. There were 9.2 million new cases, 0.7 million of which were in people who are HIV positive. TB has become an even bigger problem because it also infects people whose immune systems are weakened by HIV. HIV also complicates treatment for tuberculosis – the HIV maintenance therapy includes proteases that stop anti-TB drugs working, so the two diseases can’t be treated at the same time.
You can click here for ten top facts about TB from the World Health Organisation.
Tuberculosis is not a disease of the old or the infirm - it affects hundreds of thousands of children, and is devastating in its effects on young lives.
Under control?
Great global efforts are in progress to control TB, but it is a huge undertaking. The World Health Organisation is leading the world, but many other organisations are also involved and contribute to funding – such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has given millions to try to help.
It is all having an effect – per head of population, cases are decreasing in all regions of the world, but slowly. Only one region has stable TB – and that is Europe.
Europe is not TB free – HIV is a problem in any European countries and migration, increasing poverty in Eastern Europe and social problems in apparently affluent western European states have created the perfect conditions for tubercolosis to flourish.
Learn about World TB Day - an annual event since 2000, coordinated by the StopTB campaign.
Antibiotic resistance
Antibiotic resistant strains of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis are now very common, and increasing all the time. Some strains are resistant to all antibiotics and some experts fear that tubercolosis could become completely out of control, if the multiple resistant strains become even more widespread. Antibiotic resistance is generated because of the length of time it takes to treat someone with tuberculosis – they need to take antibiotics for six months to be completely clear of tubercolosis infection. The therapy used now combines different antibiotics at different times to try to avoid antibiotic resistance, but it is a real problem.
Learn more about TB
There are many key issues to consider and even then, this in depth science update article can only hope to scratch the surface.
Take a look at the tuberculosis links in the text above and in the links section below as a starting point and at the regularly updated news reports.
TB: the latest news:
Other links:
The Stop TB Partnership
TB: facts and figures
TB symptoms and human impact
TB in Europe
TB and HIV
TB treatment | 
